Nothing Short of Everything
by Beckles1987
Summary: Valentines Day 2012. If neither Harry nor Nikki have plans, why are they telling each other that they do? Spoilers for Bloodlines. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Nothing Short of Everything  
Rating: Same as the show...T I guess.  
Summary: Valentines Day 2012. If neither Harry nor Nikki have plans, why are they telling each other that they do?  
Pairing: Harry/Nikki  
Disclaimer: I own it all. I am the BBC, I have Emilia and Tom chained up in my cellar...jk. I don't even own a dvd boxset.

* * *

Monday 13th February 2012

"So, which unsuitable man have you got lined up for tomorrow night then?" Nikki glanced across her desk at Harry who was pretending to be concentrating on his monitor, probably looking at nothing more than his desktop or a game of solitaire.

"That is for me to know and you to torment yourself with." She didn't have any plans but teasing Harry rarely involved telling the actual truth and it felt comfortingly familiar, like old times. Maybe she should have mentioned the fire-fighter they'd met on an arson case before Hungary, a time Nikki had since thought of as BH whenever she was forced to think of those events at all. Most of the time she tried to pretend Hungary was Harry's crisis…that she'd been on the periphery of events, barely involved…completely unaffected. Of course that was utter bollocks but it was easier to concentrate on Harry and his loss than to contemplate the magnitude of hers, however temporary it had proved to be.

BH, Jack had made it pretty clear that he wouldn't be averse to getting to know her better…then during the PMs Harry had made a comment about her sliding down Jack's pole. Turning her attention back to the present and her essentially finished report wasn't enough to keep the smile off Nikki's face as she remembered the almost jealous undertone to Harry's jokes. It was rather endearing when he got threatened by men who meant, if not nothing, then very little to her.

Harry's gazed flicked over to her face and recognised the secretive smile. His plans for the two of them died a quick and silent death. There was an unsuitable man in her life at the moment. Damn. Well he wasn't going to offer beer, fast food and the least romantic DVDs Blockbuster had to offer as an alternative. He wasn't selfish enough to want her cancelling on his account just so he wasn't one of the millions of people alone on Valentine's Day. Nikki deserved to be happy, more to the point she deserved to have a social life that didn't revolve around making him feel better…god knows she'd done enough of that to earn a night off.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" He didn't look up from the computer screen; sure she'd see something he'd rather she didn't.

"Oh nothing special, during the day I thought I'd push back the boundaries of forensic science then in the evening charm an adoring twenty-five year old lingerie model into my bed." Nikki's childish laugh filled the quiet office.

God he loved her giggle. If Nikki was giggling then all was right with the world…which was actually more or less true at the moment.

He still felt guilty for his part in Anna's murder, still mourned her death and the loss of a child…but it didn't consume him anymore. He'd always regret that argument, always think that if he hadn't had the emotional maturity of a frat boy, she wouldn't have died…but it wasn't him who inflicted her injuries. He didn't kill her, didn't arrange her death, or know about it and fail to stop it. It wasn't his fault. A statement it had taken him months to make and far longer to believe.

Things were better now, thanks to Nikki…Leo too but mostly Nikki. Tomorrow would be the first time he'd wanted her company and not got it since the three of them came home. He hadn't expected to feel as jilted as he did…and jealous. It would have been quite pleasant to be the one wining and dining Nikki, taking her out, taking her home…

Harry stopped his train of thought in its tracks. Was he actually considering dating Nikki? It seemed so. She might well be the only woman with who the thought of a serious relationship didn't scare the hell out of him. The relationship they had was already pretty damn serious anyway. Falling in love with her would happen fairly instantaneously, he was sure he'd been halfway there for years…only now he wanted to do something about it.

Jesus. Leo was going to be absolutely insufferable. Although on reflection it seemed like a small price to pay for what he could potentially gain.

A ball of paper hit him square in the face, it was quickly followed by another giggle. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Harry retrieved the projectile his colleague had so thoughtfully aimed at his head and threw it back at her. Unfortunately she caught it and put it in the bin.

"Spoilsport. That could have been an amusing distraction for at least another five minutes."

"Sorry, I want to finish this before I go. I'd rather not have homework over the weekend."

"Oh." It must have been pretty serious with this new bloke if she was spending all weekend with him. Shit. Was he an awful person for hoping Nikki's latest boy-toy would quickly be exposed as defective, the same way all the others had been?

"She must be some twenty-five year old." Harry frowned in Nikki's direction, now knowing he couldn't think about her and carry on a conversation at the same time…an understandable development but it had developed rather fast.

"What?"

"I was talking to you for ten minutes before and you didn't even blink…then you space out again. Your model must be quite a woman." If only she knew.

"Oh…she is."

Harry just hoped Nikki's date realised how fortunate he was.

Lucky bastard.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Nothing Short of Everything  
Rating: Same as the show...T I guess.  
Summary: Valentines Day 2012. If neither Harry nor Nikki have plans, why are they telling each other that they do?  
Pairing: Harry/Nikki  
Disclaimer: I own it all. I am the BBC, I have Emilia and Tom chained up in my cellar...jk. I don't even own a dvd boxset.

* * *

Tuesday 14th February 2012

Being curled up on her sofa with only a bottle of wine and Thelma and Louise for company on Valentine's Day was rather pathetic, as Nikki was well aware. It wasn't so much being single the day itself…if she'd really wanted she could have gone out on any day of the week and found somebody to bring home…it was the fact that all the emphasis on love and relationships for the month leading up to Valentine's Day reminded her how empty her life was outside of the Lyell Centre.

Nikki blamed herself for being alone unnecessarily. She had friends damn it…well she had one friend, one incredibly close friend. If she'd answered Harry honestly yesterday and told him she had no plans they might have ended up doing something together. Nothing romantic of course…Harry hadn't shown interest in any woman since they came home and telling him about _that_ conversation with Leo before she knew he was ready to hear it seemed like a really bad idea.

Her mobile phone rested on the arm of the sofa…tempting her to ring Harry and ask him to come over. It was barely nine o'clock…too early for a date to end if it was going well…so she'd call his flat, if he didn't answer after three rings then she'd hang up. If he'd taken somebody back to his flat, a situation she didn't enjoy contemplating, they probably wouldn't even notice.

Having decided to make the call Nikki grabbed her phone and dialled from memory.

It rang once…twice…three times…four…

She ended the call and turned her attention to the young and very topless Brad Pitt on her TV screen. It didn't seem like much of a consolation prize.

Her mobile rang ten seconds later. Harry's name lighting up the screen.

"Harry…not interrupting anything am I?" He chuckled in her ear and she wondered if he knew it never failed to make her smile.

"Only an old episode of Mock The Week…I thought you had an unsuitable man to occupy you this evening?"

"I have two…Ben and Jerry…wouldn't say no to a third though."

"Demanding tart aren't you?"

"Very…and you wouldn't have me any other way."

"Of course not. What do you want me to bring?"

"Hmm…pizza…and some DVDs…I'm bored with Thelma and Louise."

"Thank Christ for that. You fancy anything in particular?"

"Nothing about Valentine's Day."

"Definitely not."

"Other than that I'm easy."

"Why change the habit of a lifetime?" Even knowing she'd handed him that joke on a silver platter Nikki still laughed. Yes the jokes were silly, but the man saying them was kind of wonderful and more importantly, he was still around. Even though a year had passed, the relief of having him back definitely hadn't.

"Bye Harry."

"Ok, I get the message. I'll be fifteen minutes."

Harry turned up fourteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds later, not that Nikki had been counting.

"What took you so long?" She greeted him with their customary hug then took the pizza box and headed back to the sofa.

"Hello to you too." Harry followed shaking his head at her but smiling nonetheless.

"Shut up…and put the DVD in."

"Yes milady." She giggled behind him as he changed the discs over. "It's Gladiator by the way."

"I'm giving all my attention to the pizza and wine. It wouldn't matter if we were watching Catwoman…"

"Er, yes it would." After settling himself into 'his' end of Nikki's sofa and gratefully accepting the glass of white wine she offered, Harry allowed himself to relax for the first time in almost a week. Half the population of London had died on the nights he was on call and, because one of them was a murder, any chance of sleeping at the weekend had evaporated too. The familiar weight of Nikki's head rested on his arm, he lifted it and put it around her shoulders, bringing her closer until her head lay on his chest and the rest of her was curled up against him.

It came as no surprise when she noticed the yawn he tried to hide.

"Go to sleep Harry."

"You don't mind?"

"As long as you don't dribble in my hair." Nikki felt Harry's chuckle reverberate in his chest.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"You don't deserve me. Now close your eyes and shut up." With a smile that Nikki didn't see but still felt the warmth of, Harry did what he was told. Within a few minutes he was asleep.

With no conscious company and no way of moving without disturbing Harry's hard earned rest, Nikki was left with nothing to do but watch the film. It seemed quite good so far; war political intrigue, an ex-girlfriend Maximus wasn't really all that fond of…familial betrayal, assassination…

Then the Maximus found himself facing death, running from the corrupt authorities…discovering the bodies of his murdered wife and child…

That was when Nikki realised that there was very little chance of her enjoying the rest of the film in any way, shape or form.


End file.
